Amazon makes fresh job cuts, here's what messages from internal Slack groups 'tell'

Amazon has carried out another round of job cuts, affecting a small number of employees, primarily within its Stores division that oversees the company's core e-commerce operations. The layoffs coincided with the company's annual Prime Big Deal Days shopping event, which began on October 6. According to Reuters, the latest cuts are part of a series of smaller workforce reductions that have followed a larger restructuring programme which eliminated about 30,000 jobs beginning last year and continuing into January. The company confirmed the layoffs in a statement, saying it had adjusted parts of its Stores business to better align with its priorities. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that fewer than 1,000 white-collar employees were affected. Business Insider first reported the latest round of job reductions.Amazon layoffs: Internal Slack posts point to broader impactMessages shared from internal Slack channels indicate that the layoffs may have affected multiple teams within the Stores organisation. According to employees who spoke to Reuters and shared internal discussions, divisions including customer service and selling partner services were among those impacted, while other Amazon units may also have seen cuts. Employees in the US, India and the UK were reportedly among those receiving layoff notices. The internal posts suggest the reductions were not limited to a single function, offering a glimpse into the wider scope of the restructuring effort underway within the companyAmazon says new structure supports prioritiesAn Amazon spokesperson said the company had reorganised certain parts of its Stores business as part of an effort to improve execution and better support strategic priorities. The spokesperson described the number of affected employees as small. The latest cuts come as large technology companies continue to reassess staffing levels and spending plans amid growing investments in artificial intelligence and automation. Amazon has been making periodic reductions across various teams in recent months rather than undertaking another large-scale company-wide layoff.Jeff Bezos links cuts to pandemic-era hiring surgeTalking to Fox News in an interview, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said that the e-commerce major had been forced to trim the jobs after the company expanded too aggressively during the pandemic-driven e-commerce boom. "People were staying home and they were ordering, and it was an incredible, stressful period for us," Bezos said when discussing the previous round of roughly 30,000 job losses. Bezos further added that while the employees worked extremely hard during that period, the company increased its headcount significantly.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.